Despite going into the break ten points clear of the visitors, the men in sky blue failed to maintain their lead for the full eighty minutes.
NSW Waratahs Head Coach Daryl Gibson didn’t feel the team came close to their potential tonight.
“We were doing just enough to be in front, so at halftime we spoke about lifting our intensity and the tempo of the game – be far more urgent”, said Gibson.
“I expect, from all of our players, to be their best and tonight we weren’t.”
The home side came out with plenty of intent, with Tolu Latu securing one of his stock-standard pilfers in the second minute.
The Tahs gained momentum early in the opening stages of the game, with both penalties and kicks to touch swinging in the favour of New South Wales.
Captain Michael Hooper made a trip to the blood bin in the eighth minute after receiving a cut just outside his left eye, young backrower Jed Holloway making an immediate impact in his absence.
The NSW Waratahs put up the first points of the night at the 10 minute mark in the form of a Taqele Naiyaravoro try off the back of a Bernard Foley cross-field kick with penalty advantage behind them. Foley slotted the conversion from the sideline.
Following an unsuccessful attempt at goal from Kings’ pivot Lionel Cronje, Hooper returned to the fray with an additional two stiches in his head.
In the 26th minute, outside centre Rob Horne shook off the Kings’ fullback Masixole Banda to score a runaway try in his return from injury to put his side ahead 12-0 after a Foley conversion.
Blindside flanker Ned Hanigan was shown a yellow card after an infringement at the ruck, but the New South Welshman were quick to cover up. Foley took an intercept deep in Tah’s territory and offloaded onto Seven’s convert Cam Clark who charged 90m to dot down his first Super Rugby try.
In the dying minutes of the half, Port Elizabeth prop Justin Forwood got his team on the board with a try in the 36th minute.
The half ended in favour of the NSW Waratahs 17 points to 7.
The Kings changed their tune coming into the second forty and immediately found themselves within striking distance of the NSW try line.
The 46th minute saw the Southern Kings get the first points of the half when they crossed the line in the corner after some relentless attack.
Crowd favourite and prop Angus Ta’avao made his return to the Super Rugby stage after spending six months on the sideline following a broken leg in the NRC semi-final.
Bernard Foley led an ambitious charge with a quick tap in an attempt to bring more points to the table, but sadly to no avail.
The next twenty minutes was an arm wrestle of a contest with both sides going hammer and tong at each other to break the line. In the process, Kings flanker Christopher Cloete was awarded a yellow card for his high shot on Tahs replacement hooker Hugh Roach.
The stalemate was broken in the 67th minute by a rolling maul from the visitors, stealing the lead from the Waratahs to make it 19-17.
The 77th minute saw the Kings run in one more, before the home side scored a consolation try through Taqele Naiyaravoro, to notch up a double for the flying Fijian.
Despite walking away with a bonus point, NSW coach Daryl Gibson was far from fulfilled in his side’s defeat at Allianz Stadium.
“Every time we lose at home, that’s the most disappointing thing for our fans”, said Gibson. “The expectation we have for ourselves at home are really high.”
“Tonight, we were a long way from our best and that as the coach, is disappointing.”
The NSW Waratahs take on interstate rivals the Queensland Reds next Saturday, April 29 at Suncorp Stadium for Round Nine.
